One in a Million
by OldManAndKid
Summary: Dante and Nero meet again after Nero is exiled from Fortuna for being a danger to Fortuna's people. Nero and Kyrie put their relationship aside and Nero decides to find the one person who is just like himself and can potentially help him out, Dante. Dante x Nero, mostly a love/romance story, rated M for possible sexual themes in later chapters.
1. How it has to be

Disclaimer: All publicly recognizable characters, settings, etc. are the property of their respective owners (in this case, Capcom owns all of the characters and settings, I do not claim to own them at all). The original characters and plot are the property of the author of this story (me). The author is in no way associated with the owners, creators, or producers of any previously copyrighted material. No copyright infringement is intended. I do not, and never will, profit off of this. I'm just a genuine fan.

 **Chapter 1: How It Has To Be**

It has been a couple of months since the whole _Savior_ incident. Fortuna still bore the look of a city trashed not too long ago. Even though Nero has been living with Kyrie ever since, he couldn't quite forget that day. It was, after all, the day his life had changed. It was the day Credo died, the day he found out he has Sparda's blood running through his veins, the day Fortuna got raided and destroyed by countless demons and most importantly, it was the day he met him. The only other person he knew who was like him – Dante.  
He thought about him sometimes. A lot, actually. He just felt like he finally found what he's been looking for, someone who made him feel like he fit in. But he refused to admit any of this. Still, he knew he could count on Dante in a time of crisis again. And a crisis was exactly what he was going through at that time.

Nero thought that, after all, he had done for the city and its people, he would be praised for what he did to save everyone's lives. Well, at least a little 'thank you' wouldn't hurt, or so he thought. The people knew Nero was a member of The Order. They also knew he was a jackass, a hothead and a punk who didn't particularly care about the one thing they all hold dear in that god damn city – their religion. As all the people except a few were evacuated during the entire 'apocalypse' thing, they didn't get to see who truly saved the city from becoming a hell hole. Most of them still called it a miracle, some claimed Sparda himself had returned to save all of their lives and the ones who knew The Order was behind it all still feared him, as he was _one of them_ and _must have been part of the destruction_. And as a cherry on top, the word about Nero's right, demonic arm began to spread quickly. They called him a _mutant_ , a _hazard_ , a _demon_ , an _abomination_. They didn't know of his good deeds or of his origin. If they did, they probably would have praised him. Instead, they feared him, hid from him, they wanted him gone. But the people weren't the only ones who wanted him out of their sight, or better yet, exiled.  
There were still members of The Order who survived and were part of Sanctus' plan. In their eyes, Nero betrayed them. He killed their leader, their members and he prevented the rise of the Savior. He was to be used for the greater good, but he refused to cooperate. They wanted him gone, but they still wanted to keep him alive as he was too valuable, considering he could be their source of Sparda's blood in the future.

Nero and Kyrie both left The Order soon after the incident and Kyrie supported that decision. Nero told her what they did to Credo, to their family and what they still had planned for the future. She understood, as she couldn't possibly be working with people who sacrificed her parents, killed her brother and wanted to use both her and Nero to bring all sorts of destruction upon Fortuna and its people. While she would no longer be associated with The Order, she would still be doing what she was before – helping the children at the orphanage and the people in need. They resigned and Nero decided to accept Kyrie's request to come stay with her on the outskirts of Fortuna. Before all of this, he was given a place to stay and enough money to get through the month in exchange for his service at The Order. Kyrie's place was the only place he knew he could go to after it all happened. Kyrie was, after all, the only friend and family in Fortuna he had left.

But it still wasn't the same as before. They had just evolved their relationship to a new level, and it was already falling apart. Nero did love her. He loved her very much. He was taken in by her family. He grew up with her, learned from her, admired her. But at the back of both of their minds, they were family who just lost a member. She was his big sister and Credo was the brother he always looked up to, even though they weren't related by blood. It wasn't easy. It wasn't the time for them to be anything more than the family they needed to be. Fortuna was only just recovering and they couldn't start a new life together because Kyrie wasn't prepared to leave the city and he was no longer able to take the weight. She knew the people of Fortuna and the orphans at the orphanage she helped at were too dependent on her. She meant too much to Fortuna to abandon it. Everyone viewed her as the hand they could rely on in need, she was the hope they all needed. But at the same time, everyone viewed Nero as their enemy. That's why Nero knew what was coming.

On a rainy evening, they got a knock on the door. As Kyrie opened it, two men in familiar outfits stood there. They demanded to speak to Nero. As Nero got to the door, he immediately knew what would happen. He knew the men, they used to be his partners on several patrols around town. They understood each other well, that's why they were chosen to deliver the news. Nero told Kyrie to wait inside while they spoke. They didn't exactly have much to talk about, so their chat was short.  
The men left and Nero walked back in again. He joined Kyrie by the window.

"I have to leave." He closed his eyes and pressed his human hand on his forehead. "I knew this was coming. It was a matter of time, wasn't it?"

Kyrie was looking at him with regret in her eyes. She took a deep breath and placed her hands on his shoulders.

"It's alright, Nero. We've talked about this… You staying here because you worried about me too much. But you don't have to anymore. I'm not as weak as I was before." She smiled, moved her hands on his back and gave him a soft embrace.  
"I'll be alright. I've shown them I'm not a threat. They won't come after me. I'm too valuable to the people." She looked back up at him, trying to make him lighten up with a soft smile.  
"This place is draining you, Nero. They won't understand. You need to go, you know where to go, I know you do. You've been prepared for weeks." She kissed his cheek and watched his expression. Nero gave her a long, strong embrace.

"If they touch a hair on you, I _swear_ to god…" He said, letting go and looking her in the eye. "I'll come visit you. I'll get in, somehow. I don't know when, or how often, but I will. I promise." He gave her a soft smile and kissed her forehead.

She nodded in agreement, a look of sadness in her. "I know."

Nero walked over to the bag he had prepared weeks ago, knowing he would either leave on his own or wait to be exiled sooner or later. And it was finally happening. He started to wrap his hand in his usual bandage and glove as he didn't want his devil bringer to be showing outside the city, where people didn't see anything like this before. He put on his blue denim jacket, put Blue Rose into its holster, put the bag of his belongings over his shoulder and took Red Queen's case in his left hand.

Kyrie gave him one last hug at the door. "Call me when you can."

They shared a smile and Nero put his red hood on. "I will. Goodbye Kyrie. Take care of yourself, and… don't wait for me." He said and started making his way.  
Kyrie nodded. She understood exactly what Nero meant. "Goodbye, Nero." She said, standing at the open door with sadness in her eyes. They knew they wouldn't see each other again for a long time, but they knew it was for the best. And just like that, it started to rain even harder.


	2. Guess who?

**Chapter 2: Guess Who?**

Dante has been driving for about an hour already. He was making his way back to the office from one of the harder missions he gets every now and then when hordes of demons decide to show up along with their boss. It's not like he wanted to take the job, he was downright forced to do it.

Lady came storming into Devil May Cry the previous night, waving the paper with the customer's information in his face.  
"Dante, seriously. Get off your ass and start taking some of these already. How do you expect to get paid if you don't do your damn job?" She slapped the paper on top of his desk.

Dante jumped up from his relaxed position in his chair, his eyes wide open. He put his hands in the air in a _surrender_ pose.  
"Alright, jeez … Can't a guy get some time off around here?" He said, eyeing the paper lazily.

"It's a _horde_ of basilisks, Dante. Their boss decided to join the party, too. I would if I could, but I can't take this one. I'm _still_ only human, remember?" She folded her arms in front of her chest.  
"The number is too high. Plus, I've never encountered one of these moth-like demons before. Not going to risk it. I'd ask Trish to join, but she's already taking one of these out two towns over. You might want to leave first thing in the morning too unless you want everyone dead by the time you get your lazy ass over there?"

Dante rolled his eyes and laid back on his office chair, his legs crossed on the table.  
"Fine. I'll get it done. Just … go do whatever it is you do when you plant the hard ones on me."  
He closed his eyes, shooing her off with one hand, the other behind his head.

Lady shook her head and made her way outside. "See you when you get paid."

Dante couldn't quite sleep that night. He kept thinking about a particular someone too much. Not just that night either. He kept dozing off lately, thinking about what Nero's been up to after he left Fortuna. He hated that they parted the way they did. I mean, Nero even asked him if they'd meet again, but Dante was just too entitled to make a dramatic exit for them to actually exchange any contact information. He hated himself for it, but maybe it was for the best. He couldn't shake the thoughts, though.

' _What's he doing? Is he still with that girl? Still killing demons? How did the people accept him? If he truly does have Sparda's blood, is he Vergil's son? Did Sparda have another son? No, Nero wasn't as strong. The old shithead said he was a descendant of Sparda's blood… and not quite in my league. Whatever the hell that means. He couldn't possibly be mine, could he? No. No way. When the hell did Vergil have the time to make a goddamn kid!? And him, of all people … It's hard to imagine. Scratch that, this isn't something ANYONE wants to imagine.'_

 __He could feel a familiar aura around Nero, and he didn't exactly know if he should feel good or bad about it. The thoughts then led to Vergil and he ended up becoming genuinely upset. He kept going back and forth on these thoughts and by the time he snapped out of it, a couple of hours have passed.  
He shook his head and made his way to his bedroom upstairs, determined to at least try to get some actual sleep.

So earlier that day, though still tired as hell, he took off at the direction of the basilisk horde. He really wanted to take his bike for this one, he loved riding on long, straight roads when it came to distant missions. Tough luck, it has been raining for two days straight. He had no choice but to take the car. He didn't mind taking the car, but he preferred driving with the roof of his convertible open. It made him look twice as badass as he already was. No arguing there.

He got there in a couple of hours, took care of the horde of basilisks first and the larger moth-like demon after all the lesser demons were down. He didn't even work up a sweat with this one, he simply knew the location since the man explained it in good detail and figured a moth-like demon would be less powerful during the day as it would be at night.

"I didn't even have to figure this one's weakness out. Huh," he said, dusting off some of the dust the moth had blown his way as it blew up upon death.

He made his way to the car and started driving home. It was still raining heavily. The weather was expected for that time of the year, but he still hated rain. It just made long distance driving that much more boring.

He was driving down the road of a city in which he usually sells the unwanted devil arms he obtains on missions. The traffic was crazy, they were moving slowly down a one-way road. _'_

 _Next time, I'm taking the other road. To hell with this._ ' He was getting frustrated, leaning his head on his left hand. The rain had only just stopped a moment ago.

While looking at the people who were closing their umbrellas on the sidewalks to distract him from the traffic, he noticed something familiar. A familiar bright red hood and a long blue coat, just as familiar…

' _Great. Not only in my dreams, I apparently also see him everywhere while I'm awake.'_

He wanted to believe it was really him, but he couldn't see clearly because his red hood was covering his entire face, so Dante carefully drove up to him as the cars in front of him slowly moved forward. He wanted to see if he could get a glimpse of his right hand. If the kid's demonic arm was there, he would know it was Nero for sure.

Then, he noticed the sword case he was carrying in his left hand. It had The Order's sigil on it. Not just that, but the familiar rings Nero wears were enough for Dante to know it was him. His eyes widened, a grin on his lips. Oh, that was it. It was _him_ , for sure. He could feel it, literally.

"Well, I'll be damned…" he said to himself, rolling down the window.  
"Hey, kid!"

Nero's eyes widened, looking at the direction of the familiar voice.  
"…What the-?" He said, stopping in surprise.

Dante threw him a grin, he was genuinely happy to see him again.  
"What the hell are you doing out here? You're soaked, get in!"  
Dante said it just loud enough for Nero to hear him, closing the window and opening the door for him to jump in.

Nero walked up to the car to close the door again, shaking his head.  
"I'm not getting in _your car_ like this. Besides, I don't even know where I'm going yet, so…Thanks, anyway." Nero said, looking away and frowning a bit, wanting to close the door. Dante pushed the door out stronger, preventing Nero from closing in.

"Just get in, I don't care if you're wet. Come on, hurry up, I gotta move." He said with a reassuring look on his face, pointing his thumb at the car that was honking behind him.

Nero hesitated for a bit, not wanting to destroy Dante's car seats. He has been walking in the rain for more than a day and was clearly drenched to the bone.  
He shook his head mentally. _It was Dante_. He didn't really know where he was heading in the first place, but he knew he was going to find Dante eventually. He knew Dante would give him advice on where to go, or even offer him a place to stay. He helped him out before, he would do it again. So he threw his belongings at the back seat and jumped in at the passenger seat.

"There you go. Was that so hard?" Dante teased him with a big grin on his face.

Nero gave Dante a soft smile briefly but looked down quickly after.  
"Yeah, well, you insisted."  
He frowned, not really knowing what to say or do. He didn't really want to talk about Fortuna, but he knew he was going to have to explain why he was right there, in Dante's car, eventually.

Dante started driving as the road cleared again, but he still threw glances at Nero's direction.  
"Hey, lighten up, will ya?" He paused. "You look like hell." He said, not meaning his overall appearance, but the look on Nero's face.

Nero straightened his back and started taking off his soaking coat, placing it on the floor of the car.  
"Yeah… I just didn't wanna ruin your seat, that's all. Haven't slept in a few days either so, there's that."  
Nero ran a hand over his face.

Dante smirked. "I already told you, I don't give a damn about the seat getting wet. I mean it, stop worrying about it."  
He threw Nero a light smile and looked back at the road. He flicked on a turn signal.

"We'll stop here for a bit. Got any spare clothes in that bag? You _must_ be uncomfortable in these." He said, parking the car at a diner parking area.

Nero nodded in Dante's direction.

"Alright then, get changed. Here, lock the car and meet me inside when you're done." Dante threw him the car keys and headed for the diner entrance.


	3. Taking care

**Chapter 3: Taking Care**

Nero hated thinking about it, but he really did feel warm inside. Dante had _just_ picked him up and is already being way too kind for his own good.

 _'I've been a dick towards him 90% of the time, and he still treats me like I never jump-kicked his face. Or impaled him with his own damn sword. Or beat his face into oblivion.'_ He smiled.

He got into the back of the car and proceeded to get changed into a set of dry clothes from his travel bag. He had to change all of his clothes, as he was completely soaked through. He covered himself with his still wet coat and quickly changed his boxers, making sure nobody was in sight. He took out a black T-shirt, socks, a pair of jeans and put on a dry red hoodie, locked up and headed inside.

Dante was waiting for him inside. He was sitting at a table, talking to the waitress. As he saw Nero walk through the door and look inside to spot Dante, he raised a hand to signal to him where he was.  
Nero spotted him, walked over and sat down next to him.

"What do you wanna drink?" Dante asked, opening up the menu and glancing at it.

The waitress stood next to Dante, smiling at Nero softly, waiting for him to order.

Nero looked up at her.  
"Uh, a cup of coffee would be nice," he said, also taking a menu and looking at it himself.

Dante looked up at him, and then at the waitress.  
"Get him a beer as well."

Nero looked up from the menu.  
"That's fine, you don't have to, the coffee will do."

Dante threw a look at the waitress."Two beers and a coffee it is."

"Sure thing!" The waitress nodded and made her way to the bar.

Nero had an unsure look on his face.

"Hey. You doing alright?" Dante asked, seeing as Nero was a bit off.

"Yeah, I'm good, I just haven't eaten much and probably shouldn't have a beer on an empty stomach." Nero scratched the back of his head, he was a bit embarrassed to admit he hadn't eaten in a day.

Dante smiled. "Don' worry, we didn't come here to drink. This place has the best pizza around."

The waitress brought them the drinks.  
"Thanks," Dante said and Nero nodded her way with a smile.  
As she set down the drinks, she asked:  
"Have you already decided what you want to eat?"

Dante closed the menu and put it back where he got it.  
"A pepperoni pizza, extra cheese, no olives." He looked over at Nero, who was still looking at the menu.  
"You can take whatever you want. It's on me."

Nero shook his head. "Nah, that's fine. I've got cash." He put down the menu and turned to the waitress. "Make that two."

She nodded and left.

Dante crossed his arms.  
"So." His eyes met Nero's. "Time for some questions. What brings you here?"

Nero looked away in embarrassment, locking eyes with Dante made him feel weird inside. Not a bad type of weird, but still, weird. But then again, maybe he felt weird because he was asked what he's doing there.  
"…Well, I got kicked out of Fortuna for _being a_ _monster_ , _a_ _threat to the people_ , _destroying the city's cultural_ _artefacts_ and some other bullshit along those lines." He said in a mocking tone, rolling his eyes. "Nothing unexpected." He took a sip of his coffee while Dante raised an eyebrow.

"A monster, huh?" He exhaled and took a gulp of beer. "That place _does_ sound like they would exile their only decent devil slayer."

Nero smirked at that.  
"Yeah, well. I've been planning on leaving that place for a while now. Glad I'm outta there."

"Good," Dante said with a genuine smile.

The waitress interrupted their little chat by placing a pizza down on the table in front of each of them. "Here you go, boys. Enjoy!"

They attacked their pizzas and talked for quite a while. They genuinely enjoyed each other's company. They could talk about a lot of things with each other. Hell, Nero couldn't talk with Kyrie about demons, weapons, killing, hordes or fighting techniques; that's why it felt really good, having someone who understood him and Dante felt exactly the same. All Trish and Lady did all day was plot about stealing his cash for the thousandth time.

While they were enjoying themselves, the sky has cleared up and it was already late afternoon.

"Hey, I said I could pay for myself…" Nero said as Dante paid the whole bill.

"I know." Dante said. "And _I_ said _I_ was paying _first_ , so…" He said, leaving the diner. Nero followed shortly after.

They got back to the car and Dante sat in. Nero stood outside.

"Hey, thanks for this." He scratched his nose as he often does when he's shy. "I'm glad I bumped into you. But I don't know where I'm going yet, so-"

He was cut off by Dante opening the passenger seat door open again.  
"-Just get in. You and I both know you don't have anywhere else to go but my place, sooo… Get in before I drag you in myself."

Nero's eyes were wide open at that. He blinked a few times but sat in nonetheless.  
"I didn't say that," Nero said.

"Well, kid? Do you?" Dante said, looking at him with eyebrows raised. "…Have anywhere else to go?"

Nero sighed and crossed his arms.  
"…Just drive, old man". Dante laughed and gave him a light punch to the shoulder.

"Told ya."


	4. Home is where the heart is

**Chapter 4: Home is where the heart is**

The drive was pretty quiet. Dante put on some music and Nero didn't seem to mind at all. He leaned on the window and eventually fell asleep. The safe feeling, the classic rock, the smell of leather, the warmth of the car, Dante's presence… it made him feel safe and relaxed. And much more than that, it made him feel good about himself. He was happy. Pretty damn happy.

Dante let him be, knowing he's been through a lot with next to no sleep. He decided to take the longer route home, glancing over at Nero every chance he had, making sure he was sleeping soundly.

Dante felt a special kind of way that evening. The whole drive he kept thinking about that day.

 _'What are the damn odds of me bumping into him. HIM of all people. This has got to be a dream,'_ Dante thought, a smile glued to his face. He felt like that hole in his life was pushed to the very back of his mind. Just for a moment.

Dante pulled up at the back of the office, parking his car. He turned the engine and lights off. He sat there for a bit, observing, not wanting to wake up the sleeping Nero next to him.

"Nero," he said, waiting. "Hey, Nero, we're here." He put a hand on Nero's shoulder.

Upon feeling it, Nero slowly awoke.  
"Shit, how long was I out?" Half asleep, he rubbed his eyes and started looking around.

"'Couple hours." Dante smiled softly.  
"Come on, let's get you inside, you can get some proper sleep for a change." Dante got out of the car and waited for Nero, who followed shortly after, grabbing his belongings from the back seat.

"Where are we? What city is this?" Nero walked over to Dante who took Nero's bag and sword case from him.

"Capulet. Shithole, but the rent's cheap, so. Gotta make do."

"You don't have to, Dante…" Nero felt shy about Dante's chivalrous move. Dante gave him an _I know_ look and walked over to the front door. Nero was in awe, looking up at the bright flashing neon pink sign above the door.

"Devil May Cry. I've heard a lot about it. I had no idea this was you."

Dante laughed. "No kidding?" He proceeded to unlock the double door.

"After you," he gestured towards the younger.

Nero entered and was hit with surprise. He walked through the office slowly, examining it in all its glory.

 _'A high ceiling? Trophies? Weapons? Guitars? A damn bar?'_ He was genuinely amazed.

"Dante, this place is-"  
"A shithole?"  
Dante interrupted him, feeling bad he didn't clean the place up before he left.

Nero shot him a look of confusion. "What? No. It's amazing. This is exactly what I imagined it would look like."

Dante's face lit up "It is? You imagined what it would look like?" He grinned at Nero in a teasing manner.

Nero looked away and blushed a deep red.  
"Shut up."

Dante laughed. "I'm glad you like it. I figured you'd hate this joint. It's an old mess."

Nero walked over to the guitar set under the stairs.  
"It's exactly what a hunter's place would look like. A mess; with trophies and weapons. I didn't know you played," he said, pointing at Dante's set.

Dante walked over. "We don't know much about each other, do we?" he paused, "I used to play."

Nero nodded, "I guess we don't."

Dante pats him on the back, "We've got plenty of time for that. How about we call it a day and get some sleep?".

Nero paused a bit and nodded.  
"Just for the night, though. I'll be out of your way by tomorrow."

Dante's face got a bit more serious as he looked at Nero.  
" _Out of my way."  
_  
Nero looked away, "I'll find a hotel, or a hostel, don't worry about it."

Dante crossed his arms, "What makes you think you're _in my way_?"

Nero scratched his neck. "You've helped me enough as it is, Dante… I can't keep asking you for favours."

Dante raised an eyebrow, "You didn't. I offered."

Nero wasn't sure what to say.

"Now, I don't have a spare bed so you can either take the couch or, if you're brave enough, share the bed upstairs with me." Dante grinned as he looked Nero in the eye.

Nero rolled his eyes, looked away as a blush appeared on his face, smiling.  
"Keep dreaming, asshole."

 _'I will,'_ Dante thought to himself.

They walked upstairs and grabbed a blanket and a pillow for Nero then headed back down.  
"Alright, I'll be upstairs if you need me. The bathroom's in the back, make yourself at home. I'll see you in the morning."

Nero nodded and looked at the floor, still feeling invasive by being there.  
"Thanks. For everything."

Dante put a hand on his shoulder. "I'm glad you're here. Good night, kid," he said and walked upstairs.

"Good night…" Nero smiled. He showered, went straight to the couch and fell asleep right away.


	5. The first morning

**Chapter 5: The first morning**

When Dante entered his bedroom, he didn't bother to turn on the light. He knew exactly where everything was, he enjoyed the darkness of it. He undressed down to his boxer briefs, made his way over to the bed and threw himself onto it. He was tired. The whole day was stressful for him but in a different kind of way. A new, good way. He didn't expect just being around Nero again and spending a day trying to make a good impression to be _this_ exhausting.

He couldn't believe the way he was acting that day.  
"What the hell is wrong with me?" Dante said to himself.

' _I usually barely even pay for my own pizza, now I'm paying for whatever he wants? And I'M the one offering it? I even offered… no, practically forced him to stay here! Hell, I've even been observing him a little too closely, I'm going crazy…'_

Dante knew just how out of character he was acting. This wasn't his usual carefree, no-fucks-given persona. He _cared_.  
' _Shit, this could be bad.'  
_ He ran his palms across his face and turned around, trying as hard as he could not to think about Nero and fell asleep shortly after.

._._._._.

Dante was woken up by the sun gently peeking through his bedroom window, sun rays falling on his skin. He covered his face with his hand, the bright direct sunlight feeling painful to wake up to.  
' _Ah, crap, what time is it?'_

He glanced at the old clock on his bedside and quickly sat up when he noticed it was already well past 11 in the morning. He grabbed his clothes off the side of the bed where he left them the previous evening and made his way out the bedroom once he was dressed.

He walked to the railing and looked down, stopping in surprise to see Nero still asleep motionlessly on the couch. He leaned on the railing and observed for a bit, the corners of his mouth turning into a soft smile. He watched the covers that were completely hiding Nero from Dante's sight slowly rise and fall.

' _Damn, I wonder when he's last had a good night's sleep.'_

Dante walked downstairs quietly and sat down at the desk, letting Nero sleep for as long as he needed to. He deserved some rest after a rough bunch of days.

._._._._.

Nero awoke to a pleasant smell of coffee and stretched, unsure of where exactly he was before he remembered the previous day.

Dante noticed the movement under the covers and smiled.

"That couch must be really uncomfortable."

Nero groaned in response. "It _really_ is."  
He sat up, pushing the covers down into his lap. He ran a hand through his slightly messy hair, trying to fix it at least a little bit to look the best he could, it felt like a subconscious move he made around people. He wore a dark blue T-shirt that was just a tad too big for him.

"How do you handle all this leather. It's the least comfortable material there is," Nero said, pointing at the couch's surface.

Dante laughed, "Says the guy who wears denim _everything_."  
He got up from his table and walked over to Nero, handing him the cup of coffee he had prepared for him earlier.

"How did you sleep?"

Nero took the cup, holding it with both hands. "Honestly? That was the best sleep I've had in months."

Dante crossed his arms smiled, their eyes met.

"Well, minus the couch," Nero added while taking a big sip of the coffee.

"Can't say I _didn't_ offer you the bed," Dante teased back, walking over to the table and picking up a piece of paper. "I got a call while you were asleep, sounds like a bunch of demons decided to show up around town. You in?" Dante looked back at Nero over the shoulder, the younger one nodding back in his direction.

"Hell yeah, I am." Nero got up from the couch, grabbed his bag and headed for the bathroom, placing his already empty coffee cup on Dante's table while passing by.

Dante hated to admit this, but as Nero passed him wearing nothing but the oversized T-shirt and boxers that emphasized his features perfectly, his eyes followed. He got a pretty good glance, checking the younger one out, thinking to himself. ' _For fuck's sake, contain yourself._ _ **Damn**_ _.'_ He mentally shook his head, looked down at the paper again, trying to distract himself from the intrusive thoughts. Finally, Nero disappeared from his field of view and closed the door behind him. Dante sighed, running a hand through his hair. ' _This is gonna to be a long day.'_


	6. Stay

**Chapter 6: Stay**

They've been driving around the city for about an hour now. Dante explained to Nero that the caller spotted several lesser demons all around town in smaller groups so they just drove from one location to the other, taking them out and moving to the next spot, both not saying too much to one another.

Dante was trying to keep his mind and eyes off of Nero, and Nero was not too sure about what to say, what to talk about with the older hunter. He already felt intrusive by staying at the office, he didn't also want to annoy Dante with pointless chat. So, minus the occasional comment, they spent most of the car rides in silence.

Dante was the first to speak after a long pause.

"So," he started.

"Where were you planning on going once you left Fortuna?" He didn't want to pester Nero with personal questions, but he was interested nonetheless.

Nero froze for a bit. He knew he couldn't just tell the truth directly, as he already lied about it when he was first picked up by Dante.

 _'Oh, I don't know, I didn't plan on finding you for months now or anything. I definitely didn't agree with Kyrie when she told me what I needed most was to go look for you, the one person I know who's part demon like myself. And I for sure did not look you up and consider asking you to stay with you and learn from you in the first place. Not at all.'_

Just thinking about this made him embarrassed. His cheeks flushed red and he looked out the window, pretending to recall his plan.

"I had a few places in mind. I was gonna look for the cheapest apartment and settle in, for starters." He had no idea how to continue since anything but finding Dante made no sense.

"Then, well… I'd look for any demonic activity, see if anyone needed my help. I figured maybe I'd bump into you, ask you for some advice and all that..."

He immediately regret saying that, it was as bad as just straight up telling Dante the truth.

Hearing Nero's words genuinely surprised Dante. Hearing that he was, in fact, part of his plan all along. The end goal, even. He smiled.

"Well, what do you know. You skipped the middle man entirely."

Nero paused for a bit. "Not really. I just mixed up the order of things. I found _you_ , now I just have to find myself an apartment."

He felt uneasy saying that as he really wished he didn't have to leave the office. But at the same time, he didn't want to just stay there without Dante being the one to ask him to stay. The pressure in his chest was getting stronger, he really didn't want to have this talk right then and there. At least not until he found an apartment he could _pretend_ to want to move into. Then, when he'd bring it up and Dante would ask him to stay at the office, he'd smoothly agree to stay, probably having thought of some clever excuse about the benefits of sharing the place or some shit.

Dante interrupted his thought process.

"... Something wrong with my place?"

He genuinely wanted to know why Nero kept going on about leaving.

Nero's heart skipped a beat or six as the weight lifted off his chest, Dante's words being exactly what he wanted to hear but he absolutely hated admitting it. He finally looked at Dante, the blush still very much present on his cheeks.

"...What? No! Of course not."

"Well then. You skipped the middle man. You're settled. " Dante gave him a warm smile, trying to be convincing. Nero was staying there, like it or not.

Nero paused again, unsure of what to say next. He looked down in embarrassment, clearly having trouble maintaining eye contact in awkward situations.

"... I guess I am." He scratched his nose and Dante knew exactly how Nero felt, recognizing that particular move he always made.

Dante noticed that Nero was finally smiling, even if just a little bit. He could tell Nero wanted to stay and just wanted to be polite about it.

"I know the couch isn't the greatest, but we'll figure it out, alright? Now stop worrying about that." Their eyes met again. All he wanted was to reassure Nero that he was wanted there. By Dante. A lot. Maybe too much.

"I wasn't _worried_ ," Nero laughed back.

"Yeah, right. It was written all over your face," Dante messed with him to lighten the mood.

Nero rolled his eyes. "Shut up."

They laughed it off, both glad that it was finally out of the way so they could relax and continue on with what was left of the job.


	7. Take It

**Chapter 7: Take it**

It ended up taking them a few hours to find all the nests spread across town and to take them out one by one. It ended up being a pleasant job. It wasn't too much work, yet it was just enough to give them a bit of a workout. Both of them enjoyed fighting side by side and figuring out each other's techniques. They finally arrived back at the office after collecting their payment for the job they did.

Dante opened the double doors carelessly, counting the cash they got. Nero followed closely after him.

"Finally. I was waiting-" Trish began and paused as she was hit with a surprise she was not expecting. She did not anticipate a second figure to follow Dante through the office doors. She was sitting on the edge of Dante's desk, her neck tilted a bit to the side so she could get a closer look at whoever was approaching her. "Oh."

She smiled when she realised who it was.

Dante didn't bother to look up at her, still counting. "What do you want?" He didn't really seem to care about the answer.

Nero stepped out from behind Dante, feeling a little bit embarrassed. He subconsciously hid his already covered devil bringer behind his back and out of her sight. He nodded Trish's way in greeting, but being Nero, he didn't make direct eye contact with her for longer than a moment, his eyes trying to focus on the space around him. He didn't expect anyone but Dante to be around the office.

Trish folded her arms as Dante sat down on the chair by his desk, mumbling something while trying to recount his cash. Her eyes moved from Nero to Dante. "I didn't know you had company." She gave a devilish look and waited for him to reply.

Dante raised an eyebrow her way, something about the look was telling him Trish has been picking up on his recent thought regarding the younger hunter. She did have a sense for that stuff, she always read him like an open book with massive bold letters despite Dante never expressing his true thoughts to anyone. He wasn't expecting Trish to care about Nero's presence, but she seemed a lot more interested than he thought she would be. He sighed, splitting the deck of cash into two approximately even parts and beckoned to Nero to come over to the desk.

He finally answered Trish. "Yeah, well, now you know."

Nero came over as asked. When Dante slid one of the decks of money along the desk's surface over to him, he gave Dante a questioning look. "Wait, what? No, I'm not taking it."

Dante looked up at him, their eyes met. "Of course you are."

He didn't really give Nero time to complain as he stood up and headed straight for the bathroom, giving Trish a vague look of acknowledgement. "This can wait." He said to Trish, motioning towards the bathroom door.

Both Trish and Nero followed Dante with their eyes, an awkward silence surrounding the room as Dante disappeared behind the door.

Trish turned back to Nero, an intrigued look on her face. She looked him up and down in amusement. "Nero. It's been a while."

Nero left the money on the table, not wanting to just take it without discussing the situation with Dante once he was done in the shower. He knew Dante did this just to avoid confrontation by leaving Nero alone with Trish.

"Yeah, I don't believe we've properly met," he remembered the way he dismissed her daring introduction last time.

Trish looked at Nero's demon arm he was trying to keep out of her sight. "You don't have to hide your arm around here. I'm Trish. Gloria wasn't working too well for me," She jokingly said, offering her right hand and waited for Nero to shake it this time around. And after a bit of hesitation, he did.

"Yeah, well, you had me fooled," he admits as they broke the handshake after sharing a smile.

"I _am_ good at that." Trish shuffled her position on the edge of the table a bit, crossing her arms. "So. What brings you here?"

Nero wasn't sure how to respond to her question, looking at the floor and scratching the tip of his nose, starting to feel a little bit nervous. "I had to get out of Fortuna and, uh... I happened to run into Dante on the way and, well. He insisted I come with him."

"I see. Interesting." She couldn't help but smile at the thought of Dante being lucky for once, accidentally running into the person he's been thinking of non-stop for the past few months, and bringing him home all at once.

"That explains why he wasn't around when I stopped by yesterday."

"Yeah, we got here pretty late."

She hummed back in approval, silence drawing between them again. She thought about what to say for a bit.

"Judging by the lone bag over there by the couch, I'm assuming you're staying here?"

The question made Nero even more nervous and embarrassed. He really didn't like having to explain that he's sleeping on Dante's couch because the stubborn, caring older hunter absolutely wouldn't let him stay at a hotel. Everything about that was awkward. He _wanted_ to stay here, hell, it was his plan since he left Fortuna, he just was not going to admit it in any way, shape or form. Not happening.

"I'm only crashing here until I find a proper place to stay, shouldn't take long." He tried to play it off cool, heading over to the couch and sitting down. He started flipping through the newspaper that was on the coffee table in front of him, looking at the page containing all sorts of advertisements. He was searching for any apartment listing, trying to give the impression that he was eager to get out of this place as soon as possible.

Trish smirked at the sight, seeing right through the boy. Her demonic senses were picking up his nervous feelings despite his chill facade. She liked him already.


	8. Everything you need

**Chapter 8: Everything you need**

The sound of the bathroom door opening made Nero look up from the newspaper and what he saw made him look right back down in a blink. Dante was walking out of the bathroom, his black zip-up shirt nowhere to be found, red denim pants still unbuttoned and unzipped, drying his hair with a towel as puffs of steam followed him from the open bathroom door. Something about it was making Nero feel a bit shy. He wasn't expecting Dante to be so… carefree around people.

Trish rolled her eyes as the sight of Dante, knowing him well enough to know he was trying to impress someone, and it definitely wasn't her. She decided it was probably best to give the boys privacy.

She counted and took some bills from Dante's part of the money that was still on the table from before. "I'm taking what you owed me, we're clear for now. Call me if you need anything." Trish waved at the boys and made her way ever so elegantly out the door. "Have a _lovely_ day, boys."

"Yeah, yeah." Dante dismissed her, walking over to the desk. As he was buttoning and zipping up his red jeans, he noticed that Nero's money was still there. Glancing over at his direction, he saw Nero looking at the adverts, looking as busy as ever. He knew the situation immediately so he walked over to the couch and dropped the small deck of money on top of the newspaper.

Nero looked up at Dante, the sudden surprise and the sight above him making his heart race. He didn't know why he was reacting the way he was on the inside, but it felt strange and new. Their eyes met, and Nero's cheeks were suddenly a few shades darker than before.

"You should probably keep your cash off the desk. Or it's gonna start disappearing, like mine did just now." He smiled at the sight below him. Nero looked down at the money in front of him. "And you should put on a shirt." He smirked at his own snarky remark, regretting saying it already.

Dante noticed Nero's flustered expression immediately. Although Nero tried his best to appeared chill and not give a damn about Dante being shirtless and still somehow wet right there in front of him, Dante read his embarrassment clearly. And yes, he was enjoying himself way too much. He wanted to get that exact reaction out of the younger hunter.

' _What the hell am I doing_ ,' he thought to himself. He wasn't acting like himself around Nero, and it was becoming pretty apparent.

He chuckled at Nero's remark about being shirtless and ran the towel that was hanging around his neck through his hair once again and let it slide back to his shoulders. He approached the couch, ready to sit down.

Nero noticed Dante's move so he scooched over a bit and gave him space to sit.

"Stop looking at apartments, you already have a place," Dante added and sat down next to Nero on the couch. They sat there for a moment and Nero finally took the money from the paper into his left hand, examining it.

"Dante, I can't take this. I didn't come here for your cash. This is your job, it's your paycheck."

Nero took the money and held it in front of Dante, waiting for him to take it back. He felt really intrusive again, he didn't want to give Dante the impression that he was there to take his paycheck. He already felt bad enough for staying there, let alone getting paid.

However, Dante didn't take the money. He lightly pushed Nero's hand with the money back at Nero and crossed his legs, taking the newspaper from in front of Nero. "In that case, congratulations. You're hired," Dante said in a bit of a joking manner, but he fully meant it.

"..What?" Nero took a moment to reply as he was overrun with all sorts of emotions again. This wasn't at all what he was expecting out of this whole situation. He stared at Dante in disbelief, waiting for an answer.

Dante noticed the confused look on Nero's face but he looked back down at the paper, flipping through the pages. "You're staying here, we might as well be working together and splitting the paycheck. It's only fair, right?"

Nero thought about it for a moment. "You do realise you're already letting me stay here, right?"

"Yeah."

Nero wasn't sure how else to tackle the situation. "You gotta stop being so generous. I should be paying _you, not_ the other way around."

Dante turned his head back to face Nero. "What else were you gonna do? Find a nine to five job with _that_?" Dante pointed at Nero's devil bringer.

Nero looked down, hair covering his eyes so Dante couldn't tell if he was upset over his wording. He didn't respond to the question.

Dante continued in a softer voice. "You gotta relax a bit, kid. Stop taking everything so seriously." He paused for a moment and collected his thoughts.

"Here's the deal. You're gonna be coming with me on jobs when you feel like it, and when you do, you'll get your part of the paycheck. Having you around isn't gonna cost me anything, so stop worrying about that. But, if you feel that bad about it, you can make it up to me in other ways."

Nero still didn't reply. Since it was getting a little awkward, Dante clarified.

"You can do some work around this place, keep the place and the weapons clean, take some calls and so on. We'll figure something out when the time comes."

Nero nodded, his head still facing the ground. Dante couldn't read his expression.

"You can pay for the pizza when I run out of cash eventually," Dante joked, laughing.

"You know there's other food than pizza out there, right?" Nero said, noticing the other evening that the place had a surprising amount of only pizza boxes and beer bottles littered around, and Dante's plan sounded like Pizza was the only thing he had in mind for the future as well.

"Yeah, well. Pizza's good, and relatively cheap."

"Making your own food isn't exactly expensive either."

"Hah. _Making your own food_." Dante cackled. "Do I look like I know how to cook?"

Nero's head shot up as he figured out the best way to make it up to Dante in the long run. "I can."

Dante raised an eyebrow and gave Nero a look of surprise.

"I'm not the best at it but, I've lived on my own cooking this far so it can't be _that_ awful."

Dante was surprised, seeing Nero's mood change so fast. "Sounds like we've got a plan."

Nero smiled. "Yeah."

"Great." Dante smiled and closed the newspaper he wasn't actually interested in, to begin with. He placed it back in the coffee table and stood up from his chair, looking back at Nero. "I'll get dressed, you set up the pool table."

And Nero did just that. Dante ditched the towel and put on a fresh black button up. They ordered some pizza, played pool and poker late into the evening until they closed the office and decided it was time to catch some sleep. Nero headed for the shower and Dante upstairs. It was a good day to start their new business partnership.


	9. Beautiful Bastard

**Chapter 9: Beautiful bastard**

Dante was standing on top of the stairs, leaning on the railing. He was waiting for Nero to get out of the shower. He couldn't get the younger hunter out of his mind recently, and the feeling was only getting more and more intense as time went on.

Nero took a cold shower, he really needed one after the day he's been through. It wasn't necessarily the job that was to blame, it was the fact that Dante had an effect on him he couldn't explain. He wanted to be around Dante, to spend time with him, learn from him and have the older hunter's full attention. But when he got said attention, he would get flustered and shy, heart pounding as soon as he was somewhat close to Dante, was spoken to or felt eyes on him. He couldn't explain why this was happening or why he was behaving the way he was, but it was exhausting and stressful. He knew what having a crush and being in love was like, but this feeling was different, it was a weird new mixture of old and new he's never experienced before. He tried to suppress those feelings as much as he could, knowing there was 0 chance a relationship between the two would ever work. They were related after all. Brushing it off was all he could do.

When Nero was done in the shower and dried himself, he put on the oversized T-shirt he usually wore to sleep and a fresh pair of black boxer briefs. He brushed his teeth, made sure his not-yet-fully-dried hair was looking good and headed out of the bathroom, shutting the door behind him.

Nero walked across the dimly lit office to the couch, grabbing the sheets and pillow folded on top of his bag and setting them on the couch. He prepared his sleeping space neatly and turned around to go shut off the neon sign above the bar that seemed to be the only remaining light source in the room.

Dante watched Nero in silence, observing his movements, admiring the younger man's slim but perfectly built figure. The oversized shirt wasn't giving him a lot to observe on top, but what he did see below the shirt was pleasant. The boxer briefs hugging his form perfectly and then, there were his ungodly long legs. The way Nero walked only complimented his figure. He really had an eye for the kid. 'Damn, he ain't half bad at all,' he thought.

Dante realised that he's been staring at Nero's... well, body as soon as the young man in question stopped in surprise. He noticed Dante on the railing, his eyes definitely not fixated on his eyes but on his body instead. He froze for a moment, still processing that Dante was definitely checking him out. He was normally pretty confident in his body and didn't mind having eyes on him, but this time was different. It felt different because it this time, it was Dante.

"Oh," Nero started, cheeks suddenly red. "I thought you were asleep already."

Dante made a mental note to keep his focus on Nero's eyes and straightened up from his leaning position. "Yeah, I was just going." He smiled at Nero. He wasn't sure what else to say, he really had no reason for being there other than wanting to see if Nero needed anything, hoping to see the sight he saw that same morning. "Alright, if anyone calls before I'm up, take the call and write down the info. I'll get to it. Unless it's an emergency, then come wake me up."

"Alright." Nero nodded.

Dante turned a bit and made a step towards the bedroom, giving Nero a final warm smile for the night, and a barely noticeable nod. "Good night, Nero."

"Good night," Nero responded mostly to himself as Dante was already behind his bedroom doors by then.

Nero exhaled the breath he didn't realise he was holding. He turned off the neon sign and flopped down on the god-awful couch, covering even his head with the blanket. He got the strange feelings inside again, unsure of what just happened.

'Was Dante really checking me out? Or am I going batshit insane…'

Dante sat down on the edge of the bed, his face in his hands. 'What the hell kind of curse am I under?' He slid his hands down his face and ran them through his smooth silver hair as he leaned back to lay down on the bed.

'This is getting out of hand. He's my nephew, for god's sake. Snap the fuck out of it,' he cursed himself.

As he was thinking that, he recalled he's felt this way before. Every so often throughout his life, maybe after encountering certain demons or fighting them (and getting drenched in their blood or other juices), his inner devil would get really aggressive and overpowering, and that part of him would prevail over his human side. His thoughts, decisions and actions would be greatly influenced by his demonic side. It was the part of him that drove him and his senses all kinds of wild. It hasn't happened to him in a very long time, and he has forgotten just how strong the feelings would hit. He had some idea what triggered it so he avoided those situations if he could. It almost felt like, as he liked to call it, 'demon puberty' all over again only this time it was twice as intense and… not quite the same. Something was still different.

'I'm fucking pathetic…'

He took a deep breath. The only thing on his mind was Nero's body, his movements, his flustered face, his hair, his blue eyes, his voice, his scent. He couldn't get it to stop. His heart was racing, he was sweating, he couldn't be still.

'This isn't a winnable situation, just let it pass,' he addressed his inner devil. He was sure the part of him that wasn't human was just going through something it had to go through and it would be over eventually.

He moved to get undressed and once he was down to his underwear, he properly laid down on the bed. He took a deep breath and ran both his hands across his face again. He tried his best to focus on something else, anything else, but to no avail. It was still Nero, no matter what he thought about.

'This kid. This fucking kid.'

Eventually, the thoughts calmed down and he managed to fall asleep. His dreams, however, were not pleasant.


End file.
